in time to avoid the fiscal cliff, and that's what our focus issen ob this morning. for his part, president obama says he's modestly optimistic they can work things out. even if a deal is thrown together, senator harry reid says what they come up with could be imperfect and some people aren't going to like it. bringen in independent new york stock exchange trader joining us from new york. good to see you. >> good to see you, alison. thanks for having me. >> as you said, washington has been kicking the can down the road. so what are the chances of a real deal going through at the very last minute? things sound a little more optimistic last night, if you listened to president obama. >> i think they have to sound optimistic. the last thing they want to do is not sound optimistic. here's the problem. we've come right to the 11th hour. the fact there's going to be a substantive deal that comes out in the 11th hour is probably nailed to zero. in my sense, it's easier to go over the cliff. then there's clarity, right? taxes up, spending cut. the market will know what is goi